Finally, from Wololo (via wololo.net/2013/08/06/psvita-mandatory-ofw-2-60-now-live/): The full change-log for OFW 2.60 includes the following:

There is a new option in settings, called “device” and the Bluetooth settings have been moved to this new option.

The Content Manager and the Photo App got a new surrounding picture, when you are about to launch them.

A new PC CMA version is necessary, but its still possible to apply OpenCMA r5 for this new CMA. Just update it (or delete the entire folder and start fresh) and then reapply the Open CMA patch.

Toggles have been added to the screen, when you keep the PS-Button pressed.

They’ve also added a settings tab for older games, which is exactly the same, as if you keep the screen pressed while playing an older game.

Added a new “PS+ Icon” on top of some games, so you can easily manage your savedata with the online cloud (PS+ subscription necessary).

You can now launch and listen to / watch content, that is on the devices, that are connected to the PS Vita. So you can listen to music / watch videos of a PS3/PC without transferring them.

In terms of security fixes, more analysis will be needed to see whats under the hood but so far we can confirm the following:

Sony has fixed exploits (VHBL), fixed some tricks for the homebrew-community.

Sony fixed the “rename the GAME folder and put content in it” trick, so its now impossible to put new non-PSN content into the /GAME/ folder.

A new folder, e.g. /PSP/ECFW/ would be recommended for future kxploit usage, similar to the /PSP/VHBL/ folder for the VHBL homebrews.

It is still possible to launch homebrews, but the Gamocracy exploit is fixed.

Good news is that VHBL can still run, as my private exploit and The Z’s still work on 2.60, so at least Sony hasn’t done anything too drastic. As you can see there is a lot to consider if you’re wanting to update, but if you’d like to stay on a lower firmware you can, however you will not have access to PSN or other related Online features.

Video: PS Vita Hello World on PS Vita Firmware 2.60 Demo Arrives

A few days ago Sony released PS Vita System Software Update v2.60, and today The Z has shared a demonstration video of a PS Vita Hello World on PlayStation Vita Firmware 2.60 with details below.

To quote: PS Vita Firmware 2.60 was released yesterday by Sony, and, unsurprisingly, this firmware patches the latest VHBL exploit from Qwikrazor that we released for game Gamocracy: Legend of Robot on firmware 2.12 a few weeks ago.

But, and this will not be a surprise to those who follow this blog regularly, solutions still exist to run (PSP) homebrew on the latest PS Vita firmware 2.60. The Z proves it to us in the video below.

In the video, what we see is not a VHBL port but a “simple” hello world. This is the same code pretty much everyone has been using since the sparta exploit back in 2009, and, in case you’re wondering, we’re talking of course of a user mode exploit running inside the PSP emulator of the Vita. With the same possibilities as usual of seeing a port of VHBL coming one day to this exploit.

This is even less surprising to see an exploit so soon from The Z on this firmware, as we know he is in possession of an undisclosed PSP exploit for a game available on the EU store. If I were to guess, I’d assume this is the very same exploit.

The Z has mentioned a few interesting points about 2.60 on our forums. In particular, besides the 2.12 Gamocracy exploit patch, the 2.60 firmware fixes the vulnerability that let us rename the “PSP/GAME” folder into anything we like. Coupled with the impossibility to copy anything to that folder from within the emulator, we are now in a position where homebrews can definitely not be installed there.

Qwikrazor’s VHBL port, and ,ore specifically his update in wMenu already made homebrews install in the PSP/VHBL folder instead, but this contributes to reducing compatibility, as some PSP homebrews are hardcoded to target stuff in PSP/GAME.

Nevertheless, PSP Homebrews are still a possibility on firmware 2.60, it’s just a matter of somebody releasing an exploit. In the meantime, people running with the Gamocracy VHBL on firmware 2.12 should know that Open CMA works fine and is the best way to avoid the forced updates on your Vita.

Shortly following, as previously reported, Acid_Snake also decided to release his as it ended up being the same PS Vita exploit found with the vulnerability existing in the following titles: Arcade Darts, Arcade Airhockey & Bowling, World of Pool and Arcade Pool (also known as Arcade Pool & Snooker in Europe).

To quote, roughly translated: "We're releasing a new USERMODE exploit for PSVita. We discussed it for a long time and now that Sony has released the FW 2.60, it's time to reveal what we have worked so far. As it turned out, our exploits still work great even on FW 2.60 and we want you too can take advantage of the homebrew PSP-mode even after this update.

The exploit is type USERMODE, as has already been said, so there is no way to run ISO / eCFW / Homebrew Plugin or that require access to the kernel. E 'can, however, use Homebrew that do not require kernel mode. This means they can be started all emulators, homebrew games and any other app that calls functions reserved to the system.

At present we know that the following homebrew do not work:

Daedalus x64> Operates an old version that will link to the release

PSPFiler

Snes9xTyL

The game that you download from the PSN is the Following: DARTS ARCADE (European version) -> € 2.99 on the PS Store Game ID: NPEZ00053

The Save to run the Hack will be released soon in order to give everyone time to download the game from the PSN. You will also be given guidance on how to use the Save Hack. Finally, I want to remember that the money you spend on the PSN go to Sony, and that we do not get a penny laundry.

This exploit has been developed with the revision 163 of VHBL by me and BackTrack (aka Dodi31)."

From Acid_Snake (via wololo.net/2013/08/22/my-vhbl-exploit-grab-it-while-its-still-hot/): In the last several ours an italian site, whose admins found the same exploit I did, decided to release my exploit as if it was theirs, without my consent and without synchronizing with wololo. This lead to the quick expansion of the game’s name through important news site that don’t really care if they are helping spread a harmful leak, all they want is followers, you know who you are, thanks a lot for making the scene a total mess.

Leaving aside the leakers and people who supported them, here are the name of the games. That’s right: GAMES. There’s not one, or two, or three, but FOUR. All having the same vulnerability:

Arcade Darts

Arcade Airhockey & Bowling

World of Pool

Arcade Pool (also known as Arcade Pool & Snooker in Europe)

Grab whichever game you like that is available in your store. There is one more game that had this same exploit: Pool Hall Pro, but DO NOT BUY THIS ONE, as it was secretly patched by Sony with firmware update 2.60.

The history behind these games is quite a large one, so skip it if you want. A year ago I was contacted by a /talk member name wistine, back then I was pretty much anonymous and wasn’t that well known, but this guy decided to ask me for help with a crash he had which, while not exploitable, was pretty interesting. The crash he found was in the game Pool Hall Pro. I immediately decided to check the game and reproduce his crash, but instead, I found a better one, a crash that overwrote $ra, so it was directly exploitable, but sadly, the exploit was only available in the US stores.

Not long after that, I found that the European version of Pool Hall Pro did exist, but it had another name: World of Pool. This lead me to believe that more games made by the same company had the same exploit, and that was true: Arcade Darts, Arcade Airhockey & Bowling and others.

This exploit was kept a secret for a long time by A LOT of people, and nobody ever leaked, even other devs independently of me found them, and they also kept it a secret. All good until firmware 2.60 came and a few testers of Pool Hall Pro reported that the exploit no longer worked as the save appeared as corrupted to them.

After checking the firmware files for 2.60 we could confirm that the game was indeed patched, but none of the other games with the same exploits were. I knew it was just a matter of time before Sony realized that other games had the same exploit as Pool Hall Pro, so I decided to release them.

This was to be a huge Ninja Release, as these games are available in almost all stores and have a great deal of compatibility, but people who wanted fame and recognition decided to leak it and claim it theirs, and people who wanted followers

Last but not least, I want to credit every person that needs to be credited.

Acid_Snake, who originally found the exploits in Pool Hall Pro and World of Pool.

Frostegater, who found the same exploit in Arcade Darts, confirming that more than one game had the same vulnerability.

qwikrazor87, who ported VHBL to Arcade Airhockey and Bowling, as well as his great work in the community.

The Z, for confirming the games’ availability in all stores.

All of Console Heaven’s VIP members, who kept this exploit hidden for so much time.

Fate6 and gdljjrod, who pointed out that Pool Hall Pro was secretly patched in 2.60

Total_Noob and the PRO Team for their great work on the scene.

Wololo, who made the initial VHBL port of Pool Hall Pro a possibility and his great work in the scene.

There was to be a few surprises in this release, including multiBootMenu V4 (by Acid_Snake and GBOT), which added support for VHBL, allowing you to have more than one menu installed at once. pyMenu 0.4, which includes huge changes compared to the previous release. And a possible update of 138Menu by GBOT. But none of these had time to be finished, so you’ll have to wait a few to see them.

Note from Wololo: at the time being, given that the public announce was a surprise to most of us, we are still figuring out how and when Acid_Snake’s VHBL port will be released. Please stay tuned, and in the meantime, grab any of these games while they’re available.

There had to be some surprises for this release, including multiBootMenu V4 (from Acid_Snake and GBOT), which added support for VHBL, allowing you to have more than one menu installed at once. pyMenu 0.4, which includes huge changes compared to the previous version. And a possible update of 138Menu from GBOT. But none of these has had time to be completed, so you’ll have to wait a while before you see them.

Important note: At the time of this writing, it seems the games are still available in the US store. If you’re in another country and missed the exploits there (they have been removed at least in EU), you can create a US account and buy some US PSN Credit from Amazon to get the games in the US.

At this point I must admit that I’m lost about the ins and outs about this recent exploit announce for the Vita 2.60, but I’ll state what I know: the exploit (or at least part of it, since the same exploit is available in several games from the same company) was most likely found by several hackers, and several of them worked independently on porting VHBL to it.

Acid_Snake precised to me that many hackers found this exploit independently, and that most of them worked together in order to keep the secret. The first public announce (a few days ago, on another website) of the exploits which triggered this “messy” release has been confirmed to not be a leak, just poor communication from other devs who were working independently on the exploit. The whole thing was in the end just a sad coincidence, but we’ll try to give more precisions about this in a further article.

Nevertheless, what we are releasing exclusively today is what I believe to be the most advanced and highest quality VHBL ports available for these exploits, following Acid_Snake’s announce yesterday.

Not that I think other VHBL ports around here for the Arcade Dart exploits are bad, but because I’ve personally worked close enough with Acid_Snake and Qwikrazor87 over the past few months that I trust their skills, experience and the amount of beta testing their work has gone through. At the end of the day, a VHBL port still involves some craftsmanship and I’ll trust people with experience (Qwikrazor had done an incredible job on the 2.12 release not so long ago) more than anyone else.

That being said, know that other VHBL ports for this exploit are floating around the interwebs, and you might want to give them a try if this release is not satisfying to you, for one reason or another. We just won’t offer the same amount of support for these “other” releases than we can offer for Acid_snake’s work.

While I’m at it, for other hackers who made a VHBL port of this, let me remind everyone that VHBL is released under the gplv3 license, and that if you distribute binaries, you should distribute your sources as well. Beyond all the drama, let’s please respect the open source license of the original HBL/VHBL creators who, for the most part, have nothing to do with any of the recent mess.

Hmm, now that this is out of the way, I am proud to release the files for VHBL on Vita 2.60, from Acid_Snake and Qwikrazor87. Credits go to (copy/pasted from Acid_Snake’s announcement):

Acid_Snake, who originally found the exploits in Pool Hall Pro and World of Pool.

Frostegater, who found the same exploit in Arcade Darts, confirming that more than one game had the same vulnerability.

qwikrazor87, who ported VHBL to Arcade Airhockey and Bowling, as well as his great work in the community.

The Z, for confirming the games’ availability in all stores.

All of Console Heaven’s VIP members, who kept this exploit hidden for so much time.

Fate6 and gdljjrod, who pointed out that Pool Hall Pro was secretly patched in 2.60

Total_Noob and the PRO Team for their great work on the scene.

Wololo, who made the initial VHBL port of Pool Hall Pro a possibility and his great work in the scene.

These files will let you run homebrews on a Vita 2.60, as long as you own a legit copy of one of the following games:

Those of you who have been trying to use our latest VHBL release on game Arcade Pool (& Snooker) were out of luck, as it seems a tiny bug made it to Qwikrazor87′s port on this specific game (both US and EU version).

Qwikrazor87 has found that one of the sound threads from the exploited games was not properly being deleted, ending up crashing the Vita. He fixed that and released a fix.

For those interested in the way VHBL works, you can picture it as a parasite that takes over a “target” (the exploited game). The idea is to free as much Ram as possible without crashing the exploited game in the process.

This consists in deleting all the threads and modules of the game in a specific order. Sometimes we miss one when investigating how the game works, and this means it can crash the entire console eventually. Since a hacked PSP and a Vita don’t always behave the same way when one thread is left out, this problem probably went unnoticed initially.

But I digress, you can get the updated files below. Again, this is only useful for people who were seeing a C1-2858-3 error on the Arcade Pool (& Snooker) game.

The updates keep coming! As the latest VHBL release was a bit precipitated due to external events, the first release made by Acid_Snake and Qwikrazor87 wasn’t optimal, and some of you reported issues running, among others, famous Super NES emulator Snes9XTYL. Qwikrazor87 has been hard at work over the past few days to address all these issues.

We have to keep in mind here that this is an unusual situation, not only because the exploit was announced much earlier than was initially planned, but also because technically, if you count the US/EU variations, the VHBL had to be ported (and maintained!) to a total of 8 games. This is a lot to test, and obviously the hackers don’t have all copies of all games. It so happens that most of the testing happens on PSPs, and sometimes tiny inconsistencies with the PSP emulator on the Vita can lead to bugs such as the one experienced in Snes9XTYL.

This latest patch fixes Snes9xTYL issues, but also seems to improve the experience in other homebrews. Some people have reported a better stability in Gameboy Advance emulator gPSP.